News and Videos

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones tapped out former dual-division PRIDE champion Dan Henderson, securing an arm-triangle choke from mount and earning a submission win at the 6:39 mark of the submission-only contest.

The grappling match served as the main event of Sunday’s Submission Underground 2 event, which took place at Roseland Theater in Portland, Ore. The card, held under the Eddie Bravo Invitational rule set, streamed in its entirety on FloGrappling.com.

Jones and Henderson, of course, were supposed to meet in the main event of 2012’s UFC 151 event. Henderson suffered an injury in training and was forced to withdraw from the contest, and Jones declined to take on a replacement opponent, so the card was ultimately scrapped.

Ads by ZINC

On Sunday, Jones, who enjoyed a 31-pound weight advantage over his foe, crawled across the cage to start the match and immediately pressed Henderson to the cage. However with nothing there, “Bones” pulled away to reset. From there, the two brought the crowd to their feet, as an arm extension from Jones earned a fake H-bomb reply from Henderson. Jones smiled and pantomimed a spinning elbow before they got back to business.

Two minutes into the frame, Jones dropped to the floor and asked Henderson to jump in his guard, but the future UFC Hall of Famer declined.

Just before the halfway point, Jones shot quickly under his opponent’s defense with slick “superduck” and brought the fight to the floor, immediately establishing top position. Jones moves around on the top, switching from side control to north-south and back again and briefly threatening to isolate an arm. Once Henderson pulled free, he briefly held wrist control, as well, but Jones was never in trouble.

Jones remained active on top, continually looking for options and eventually advancing to mount and finding an arm-triangle choke. After locking it in, Jones shifted his body weight, and Henderson was forced to tap with a little more than a minute left in regulation.

“Thank you so much for the opportunity today,” Jones told Sonnen after the bout. “I really appreciate it. I know we’ve had our differences over the years, but I respect you tremendously. You’re truly a legend and one of the greatest of all-time in out sport.”

But when Sonnen asked him to come back on Jan. 29 for Submission Underground 3, Jones was ready with a request.

Tate endures controversy for overtime win over Eye

In the co-main event, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate earned a briefly controversial but ultimately very competitive contest with Jessica Eye. The grappling match served as a rematch of sorts, as Tate earned a decision win over Eye under MMA rules at 2015’s UFC on FOX 16 event.

After some initial feeling out, the two moved into the clinch against the cage, but neither could take advantage of the position. Tate eventually gambled with double overhooks and tried to pull Eye to the floor, but “Cupcake” couldn’t roll her opponent over on the drop and gave up top position. Tate deftly rolled to an armbar halfway through regulation and had her opponent’s limb extended, and the match was stopped due to the submission. However, Eye contended she didn’t tap, and the match was inexplicably restarted on the feet in a neutral position.

Tate was able to get the fight to the floor again on the restart, working to rear mount and looking briefly like she wanted to throw a few strikes but catching herself and quickly flashing her trademark weigh-in scale position with a quick bicep kiss. Despite the advantageous position, Tate couldn’t finish before the end of regulation.

In overtime, Tate started in the dominant position first and elected to start on the back and registered 2:05 of control time before Eye slipped free. Eye started in the same position and quickly found herself at a disadvantage after earning just 40 seconds of control before Tate escaped.

Despite the uphill climb, Eye made it exciting by escaping from back control after just nine seconds in the second overtime. However, Tate answered by working free from spider web in just seven seconds, again establishing her control.

Eye kept the pressure up in the final overtime, escaping from Tate’s spider web in just 10 seconds. Then in the final frame, Eye started on the back and turned quickly to an armbar that threatened to end the fight. However, Tate countered with an escape just 15 seconds into the final exchange, securing the victory via escape time.

In additional featured action, 87-fight MMA veteran Jeff Monsonovercame an opponent with a 70-pound weight advantage in Warren Brooks to score a submission win in the first frame of overtime.

Brooks pulled half-guard two minutes into the regulation period, but the position proved to be a stalemate for much of the match. Brooks eventually turned to his knees in an effort to increase the action, and Monson happily took control of the back. “The Snowman” was unable to work in a choke in his two minutes in the dominant spot, and the fight went into overtime.

In the extra period, Monson started on his opponent’s back, and after some initial difficulties was able to get a rear-naked choke in just 46 seconds. Brooks elected to start from spider web, but Monson needed just four seconds to pull his arm free and secure the win.

Gaming activity operates under sublicense nr. 8048-H2601440 issued by the gaming commission of Curacao. Financial transactions are managed by HighWeb Services limited. To ensure fairness our games are tested by iTech Labs, an independent tester of gaming and wagering devices. PunchBets is not affiliated with any events, movies, television, sports teams, players or mobile brands displayed in its websites. Only players above 18 are permitted to play our games. Gambling can be addictive, Play responsibly.